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THE 



WORKS OF GOD DECLARED BY ONE GENERATION 
TO ANOTHER. 



A SERMON, 



PREACHED AT LITTLETON, DEC. 4, 1815. 



On the completion of a Century from the Incorporation of that 

Town. 



"^^ ». 



BY EDMUND FOSTER, A.M. 

Pastor of the Church in said Town. 



CONCORD^ MASS, 
PRINTED BY JOSEPH T. PBTERS. 



'\ 




25704 



Littleton, Dec. 18, 1815. 
Sir, 

THE town of Littleton return their most cordial thanks, 
for the very able and instructive Sermon, by you delivered, the 
4th inst. on the Conclusion of a Century since the Incorporation 
of this Town ; and, by the undersigned, their Committee, request 
a copy of the same for the Press. 

SAMUEL HOAR, 
JOHN WOOD, 
DAVID LAWRENCE. 
Rev. Edmund Foster. 



Littleton, Dec. 28, 1815. 
Gentlemen, 

THE undersigned receives with lively emotions of 
friendship, the attention of the town of Littleton to the Sermon, 
delivered before them on the 4th inst. and at their request pre. 
sents them with a copy of the same for the Press. 

EDMUND FOSTER. 
Samuel Hoar, ^ 

John Wood, > Committee. 



David Lawrence 



SERMON 



Psalm cxlv — 4ih verse. 

Vne generation shall praise thy works unto another, 
and shall declare thy mighty acts. 

The great creator did not endow his creatures, in 
their first existence, with the highest perfections of 
which they are capable, and for which they were de- 
signed. 

To man he has given the capacity and the means of 
acquiring knowledge, and of communicating it to oth- 
ers. It is only by improving his talents, that he can 
increase them. 

Both his knowledge and his happiness were design- 
ed to be progressive ; nor do we know that the period 
will ever be, either in this world or in the world to 
come, in which this progression will come to an end* 

The state of things around us, and the prospect be- 
fore us, give constant activity and employment to the 
noble powers of the human mind. 

From one original stock, the innunierable multitude 
of the human family have proceeded ; and in every 
generation children have been dependent on their pa- 
rents, reared to manhood by their labour and nurs- 
ing attention ; improved by their instruction and dis- 
cipline : and after being removed from their immedi- 

9 



ate cure, they have usually been continued under tu- 
tors and governors of an higher grade. 

When God had created man, and assigned him his 
state and probation in this world, he did not dismiss 
him from his care. The same power, that gave us 
being, befriends, assists and strengthens us through 
the whole journey of human life. Our Father vv'ork- 
eth hitherto, and we work. Human exertions are so 
united and blended with a divine agency and provi- 
dence, that the one cannot exist and progress without 
the other ; and whenever we speak of the doings of 
men, we also declare the works of God. Under such 
views should we trace the history of the world from 
the beginning, through all generations of men, and. 
pursue it to the consummation of all things. 

In the infant age of the world, the minds of men 
were rude and uncultivated, and darkness for a long- 
time was upon the family of the earth. The world 
was large, and the inhabitants few. They were herds- 
men rather than cultivators or mechanics ; and when- 
ever convenience invited, they could remove from 
one place to another without encroaching on the rights 
of any. To commerce they were strangers, and they 
subsisted upon their own simple means. Their wants 
were soon and easily satisfied ; and their motives to 
enterprise and discoveries few and feeble. Science 
unfolded gradually, and progressed slowly ; yet it 
was never wholly at a stand, but advanced as men 
multiplied, and has continually increased with time. 
In some periods it has progressed with greater, at oth- 
ers with less rapidity. Its present improved state was 
reserved for one of the glories of the christian era. 

That the world therefore is not eternal, as some 
have vainly pretended, is evident from the length of 



time in which mankind, upon that supposition, must 
hhve remained is:norant of what are now known and 
considered to be some of the most necessary and use- 
ful arts of life. And is it credible, that the eternal 
succession of generations should produce no men of 
genius, who would either be awakened by necessity, 
stimulated by the desire of personal gain, or the thirst 
of glory and renown, to press their inquiries into na- 
ture, and to make discoveries which would at once 
improve the happiness of mankind and immortalize 
their own names ? 

Is it credible, that mankind should remain through 
countless ages, down to a late period, ignorant of the 
art of printing, by which they might communicate 
knowledge to others, and transmit their discoveries 
and improvements to posterity in the records of histo- 
ry ? Can we believe that men, for such a length of 
time, would have known so litde of navigation, and 
nothing of the needle and the mariner's compass ? 
That they would have remained so ignorant of geo- 
graphy and the earth they inhabited, as to know nothing 
of this western hemisphere, this vast continent, which 
is nearly one half of this habitable world ? That they 
should have known so little either of the means of their 
internal improvements, and of defence and annoyance 
of their enemies, and other valuable branches of sci- 
ence as they did, so late as the days of the prophets, 
and the conclusion of the Jewish age ? If we reject, 
as we ought, the idea of the past eternity of this world, 
and believe it of novel existence ; if we limit it to the 
true period at which the history of Moses has placed it, 
a period of less than six thousand years, we shall the 
less wonder at the slow progress of civilization and 
improvement in the arts ; and that the world continued 
^s it did, in comparative darkness and ignorance. 



That we might have a correct knowledge of tlie 
world and of events in exact order of succession, time 
has been divided to us in portions both small and 
great. It has been measured to us by days and weeks, 
and months and years, and from thence by hundreds 
and by thousands of years. The ancients computed 
their time by genealogies, or generations. By this 
method the Jewish tribes were kept distinct. In this 
line of succession the priesthood, under the law, waa 
traced to its origin, the claims to that holy office 
proved and settled, and many valuable inheritances 
among the Jews preserved and secured. 

By this method it was clearly ascertained and proved 
that Christ sprang out of Judah, and from the family 
of David, according to the ancient prophecies. 

When Saint Matthew, to prove this point, had enu- 
merated the genealogies, or succession of families, from 
Abraham to Joseph, the reputed father of our Lord, 
he gives us a compendious history of the Jewish nation, 
from its establishment to its overthrow, in the follow- 
ing words : So all the generations, from Abraham to 
David, are fourteen generations; and from David, 
until the carrying away into Babylon, are fourteen 
generations ; and from the carrying away into Babylon, 
unto the coming of Christ, are fourteen generations. 

" The Jews," says a learned writer, "in every one 
of these several intervals, were under a several and 
distinct manner of government, and the end of each 
interval produced some alteration in the state. In the 
first, they were under judges and prophets, in the sec- 
ond, under kings, and in the third, under Hasmonsean 
priests. The first fourteen generations brought their 
state to glory, in the kingdom of David ; the second 
to misery, in the captivity of Babylon ; and the third 
to glory again, in the kingdom of Christ. 



" The first begins with Abraham, who received the 
promise, and ends in David, who received it again 
more clearly ; the second begins with the building of 
the temple, and ends in the destruction of it ; the third 
begins with their peeping out of misery in Babel, and 
ends in their accomplished delivery by Christ." 

In the history of that long favoured, but finally de- 
voted nation, one generation fully declared the works 
of God unto another. 

We have briefly traced the history and condition of 
mankind through many generations, to a new era, 
which commenced at the birth, and under the reign of 
Messiah, the ancient of days, in which a new order of 
things appeared. 

Though the knowledge and study of genealogies 
was of great use before the coming of the Messiah, 
that it might be known distinctly of what tribe and 
family he was born ; yet, after his appearing, it be- 
came useless and vain. And those who afterwards 
gave heed to endless genealogies are reproved by the 
Apostle Paul, as being ostentatious, and betraying the 
marks of family pride and destruction. 

Christians do not compute time by generations, but 
by centuries, or periods of an hundred years. And in 
looking to past events and things, we usually refer to 
the particular century in which they were known and 
transacted. The history of the world has been divi- 
ded to us by these periods, ever since the days of 
Christ ; and we take our dates of time from his birth. 

We have already observed that the ages previous to 
this period were comparatively dark. The high im- 
provements in knowledge and the useful arts seem to 
have been reserved for the honour and happiness of 
later times. 



The greater portion of new and useful discoveries 
have been made long since the christian era commen- 
ced ; and some of the most important of them within 
the space of five or six hundred years. The twelfth, 
thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries were honoured by 
geniuses, who brought many hidden things to light, 
and blessed the world with new discoveries. New 
inventions and improvements in the sciences were 
quickl}^ followed by a spirit of enterprise. Men soar- 
ed above their narrow prejudices, and gave a wide 
range to their thoughts and enquiries. They began 
to traverse the ocean and to circumnavigate this globe. 

A new world was brought to view when Columbus 
discovered this western continent, in 1492. The dis- 
covery was soon followed by emigrations from the old 
to the new world. 

Until now, this large and fairest portion of the earth 
had been without civilized inhabitants ; but wisdom 
forbade that it should longer remain a den only for 
beasts and savage men. 

Providence usually ripens men for executing its 
wise designs. In England the reformation from Po- 
pery was followed by persecution and blood. Usur- 
pation and tyranny characterized ecclesiastics. The 
reformers themselves became divided into v/hat we 
may call Protestants, Dissenters, and Puritans, who, 
in some respects, differed from both the former. The 
Puritans, so called, not only rejected Popery in com- 
mon with their reformed brethren ; they not only con- 
scientiously withdrew from the established forms of 
religion in their country, but they attempted a still 
further reformation in the dissenting churches, by con- 
forming both their worship and manners more to the 
simplicity of the gospel; and when oppressed and 



persecuted, on account of their opinions and labours, 

thev fled for refuge. r i 

These were the men who first sought a peaceful 
.-etreat for themselves and for their posterity, m this 
then distant and barbarous land. 

In their views and pursuits, they were governed 
n,ore by religion, than by the motives of worldly gam 
They preferred exile abroad, to tyranny at home. 
Thev had .-ather submit to the privat.ons. hardships, 
and dangers of life in a ^ilder.ess surrounded w.th 
savage foes, in which they could be favoured b) the 
unmolested enjoyment of liberty and the "S^t-fcon. 
science in the worship of their God, than to endure the 
spfrU of intolerance and persecution iu then- native 

"7tle call of Providence, therefore, these pious 
pilgrims, like Abraham the father of the faU^iful, went 
ouf, not knowing whither they went. In November 
1620 a companv of them reached the .\mencan coast, 
anch;red in Cape Cod harbor, and, before landing, 
formed themselves into a little republic, and then com- 
meneed their first settlement in what is now called 
Plymouth. A few years after, another company from 
Enoland, bringing with them their religious teachers, 
S-i'-ved ; Naumleag, no«- calledSalem Hk nun. 
ber and strength of inhabitants -mmually mulup led 
and increased. New societies were formec^ and new 
towns were settled in quick succession. Population 
:Xprovement spread far and wide, till they .ached 
the pxLwenow inhabit ; an era, my hearers, we have 
this day assembled to celebrate. . , , •, 

On he third of December, 1715, the then inhabit- 
ant?of this place, by an a.t of the leg-— . --^^ 
to political existence, and were numbered among 



corporations of New-England. During the century 
past, amidst all those obstacles, occurrences, and chan- 
ges incident to human affairs, and to life, this town has 
risen from its infancy to its present population and rank 
in civil and christian life. 

Through nearly the whole hundred years that are 
now elapsed and gone, the word and ordinances of the 
gospel have been statedly and constantly enjoyed by 
the people in this place. They have had three distinct 
houses of public worship, and three ministers of the 
sanctuary. The first who was invited and ordained to 
the work of the gospel ministry, in this town, was the 
Rev. Benjamin Shattuck. After continuing in the 
ministry about thirteen years, he was, by agreement 
with the people of his charge, dismissed from his pas- 
toral office. 

He was quickly succeeded by the Rev. and mem- 
orable Daniel Rogers. As a minister he possessed 
many valuable gifts and graces, which gave him emi- 
nence and distinction among his brethren. In him 
were united a penetrating mind and a sound judgmenty 
by which he was able to investigate truth, and detect 
and refute error. 

He was eminently endowed with the gift of prayer, 
which he assiduously cultivated and improved. In 
addressing the throne of grace, he greatly excelled ; 
and his prayers on particular occasions were remarka- 
bly appropriate and impressive. 

His deportment was always dignified ; in the house 
of God it was commanding ; and as an apostle of 
Christ, he might be truly said to magnify his office. 
For his wisdom and prudence he was respected at 
home and abroad. His praise was in all the churches. 
In their difficulties they looked to him as a counsellor, 



and he was useful in settling their debates, adjusting 
their differences, and healing their divisions. Provi- 
dence lengthened his life beyond threescore years and 
ten, when he died in a good old age, and was gathered 
to the sepulchres of his fathers. 

As a son with the Father in the gospel, the speaker 
was ordained to the ministry, as colleague with your 
former deceased pastor, and has now almost completed 
the 35th year of his ministry. Though we have this 
treasure in earthen vessels, and the ministers of the 
gospel are not suffered to continue, by reason of death; 
yet some are spared in the vineyard longer than others. 
So far as the continuance of a minister is a blessing, 
you, my hearers, have been singularly favoured. 
While other towns, younger than this, from various 
causes, have been often affiicted and disappointed in 
their hopes, and had a number ojf laborers in quick 
succession ; for almost a century you have had but 
three ministers ordained among you ; and the lives 
and labors of two of them have been continued for 
more than fourscore and four years. We will record 
these acts in memory of God's great goodness. 

A brief history of this church- and town, since they 
were committed to my care, must be interesting and 
improving. 

In a period short of thirty-five years, 445 persons 
have died. Of this number, 126 were members of 
bur church. There have been admitted to baptism, 
722, including infants and adult persons. 249 have 
been received to full communion ; and the number of 
communicants at the present time is 136. 

Our subject rises in solemn review before us. It 
evinces this scripture truth, that one generation gocth 
away and another cometh. 

3 



10 

In the short period of my ministry here, the amount 
of the funerals I have attended, and of the persons we 
have committed to the tomb, is nearly equal to half 
the number of the living in this place; and exceeds 
that of the whole congregation, both great and small, 
w^ho assemble for worship in this temple at any one 
time. Among the deceased, are our fothers, our chil- 
dren, our wives, and our most intimate and valuable 
friends, who once partook of our domestic comforts, 
of the pleasures of social intercourse, and who ate and 
drank with us at the table of Christ. Among them 
also is our former pastor, and the greatest part of his 
charge. There is scarce a person among us, of con- 
siderable age, but has been a mourner, and is still a 
sufferer under these privations. Some families have 
been greatly diminished, and the breaches remain un- 
repaired ; others are totally extinct, and nothing of 
them remains but the monuments of their former lives. 

If the number of the dead has been swelled to the 
above amount in thirt} -five years, what would it be if 
we were to add to it the whole bill of mortality for a 
century past ? Yea, if we take into the account all 
that death has conquered shice the discovery and set- 
tlement of this country, how vastly would the num- 
ber of the dead exceed the whole family of the living ? 

A brief view of the multiplied labors, hardships, 
sufferings, and worthy deeds of our ancestors, must be 
instructive and improving to us their children. Theif 
drove out the savages ; they subdued the wilderness 
before them ; they instituted religion ; they founded 
schools and seminaries of learning ; they purchased 
and defended liberty at the expense of their richest 
blood and treasures ; they established civil institutions ; 
they bequeathed them to their heirs ; and we, their 



11 

children, enter into their labors and enjoy the blessings 
of the inheritance. By such splendid deeds does one 
generation declare God's works unto another. Can 
we ever forget these things ? Shall we neglect to 
profit by them ? And will we not improve upon their 
labours in our day and generation, and hand down 
the same blessings with much increase to our children ? 
Indeed, our country is already wakeful and attentive 
to their duty on these subjects, and is mindful of the 
interests of posterity. Colleges and academies are 
multiplied among us. They are liberally endowed, 
and provided with able instructors, which promise 
improvement in the liberal and useful arts and sci- 
ences. 

In this portion of our country we have schools in 
every town for the education of children in the com- 
mon and most necessary branches of knowledge. 

For many years past, no improvements have been 
greater than those in our common and school educa- 
tion. These institutions do great honour to our coun- 
try. They have a friendly aspect on the public senti- 
ment and morals, and a direct tendency to preserve a 
free government among us. 

We have agricultural societies, for improving our. 
knowledge in the first employment of man. 

Husbandry is absolutely necessary to our subsist- 
ence. It is both useful and ornamental ; and in pro- 
portion to our improvement in it, our tables will be 
plentifully furnished, and our country around us be- 
come more and more like die garden of God, for its 
beauty and fertility. 

In connexion with husbandry, are placed our manu- 
ikcturing establishments. By our skill and industry 
in them, our reputation is increasing, and the wants 



12 

and conveniences of life are supplied in rich abun- 
dance. 

We have many and divers charitable institutions, 
for relieving the indigent of all descriptions. Pious 
and charitable females, turning their attention particu- 
larly to the forlorn of their o^vn sex, have established 
and endowed asylums for such houseless children of 
vrant. They annually take many from wretchedness, 
and from almost every vice, and place them in these, 
secure abodes. Here they are comfortably fed and 
clothed, and nursed as with paternal affection ; by 
which they are prevented becoming a public nuisance,^ 
and made reputable and useful members of society. 
Many sons of America have done worthily, but her 
daughters have excelled them all. 

To these and many other valuable institutions, may 
be added, bible and missionary societies, for the more 
effectual and rapid diffusion of the knowledge of Chris- 
tianity throughput the great family of, man. The 
present is truly the age of light and irnprovement, by 
which present and future generations will be blessed. 

If the past century has swept away more than one 
generation, and the earth is now peopled with a wholly 
new race of men, and the same order of events must 
continue, what is the prospect before us ? Where 
shall we and our dear children, in a little time, be ? 
We must rest in our graves, as do others. Probably,, 
at the return of another century, not one of us will be 
found alive, to declare to others the acts of God. 

Brethren, the tinie is short. Let us work while it 
is day, and by our labors, transmit something valuable 
in our turn to the generations that shall follow us, who, 
in reviewing the history and imperishable monuments 



13 

of our lives, may find occasion to say of us — though 
they are dead, they yet speak to us. 

In contemplating the condition in which this soci ■ 
ety is found, at the close of the past, and on the begin* 
ning, of a new century, we shall find many things to 
excite our gratitude, and quicken and increase our 
exertions. 

We have already stated the number of communi- 
cants among us, from which it appears, that by the 
blessing of God this church has had increase and edi- 
fication. To the honour of your profession and char- 
acter, my brethren and sisters, I am constrained to 
say, that during my ministry among you, you have 
continually kept the unity of the spirit in the bonds of 
peace. Our harmony has never been interrupted by a 
diversity of religious opinions. If any one has had 
faith differing from another in any point of scripture 
doctrine, he has had it to himself before God, and has 
not disturbed others with it. 

Though we are many members, we are still but one 
body, and one bread unbroken. The bitter waters of 
strife have never broken in to trouble us. Dissen- 
sions and divisions have not been known here. 

Through the whole of my ministry, this church has 
never, for once, been specially called together on any 
matter or concern, except for the choosing of deacons^ 
who, in the proper duties of their office, might assist in 
the services of the sanctuary, and in maintaining the 
order and promoting the spiritual interests of the whole 
body. This state of quietness and harmony I attribute 
not to my own exemplary vigilance, prudence and 
faithfulness as a pastor ; but to your candor and good- 
ness towards me, and to your love for the peace and 
prosperity of Zion. Let your light still shine before 



14 

men, and your example impart an influence to others. 
For this shall the world take knowledge of you, that 
ye :ire the disciples who have been with Jesus. The 
head of the church shall also watch over and keep you ; 
and you shall ever dwell in the secret places of the 
Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Al- 
mighty. The people of this town, also, have a just 
claim to their full portion of honour and respect, on 
account of the peace and harmony which subsists in it. 
To your wisdom and prudence among others, it is ow- 
ins: that we have been so little troubled with sectaries. 
You have continued in the faith as it has been here de- 
livered, and have not been blown about by every wind 
of doctrine. You have heard the voice of your own 
shepherd, and strangers ye have not followed. As a 
society, you have a deep interest attached to you. 
You should be as emulous of a good reputation and 
name, as an individual. It will give you the like com- 
fort and security in yourselves, and respect abroad ; 
and when, in the course of events, you shall be called 
to resettle the gospel among you, it will be eminently 
useful in commanding a person of character and tal- 
ents. That I may close my ministry with comfort 
and honor to myself, and usefulness to you, I would 
further address myself, both to the church and people 
in this place. 

As this is the last time I shall ever speak, or you 
will ever hear me, on an occasion like this, let us avail 
ourselves of this opportunity of renewing our mutual 
pledges of fidelity and attachment to each other. 
Hitherto ye have been my support and comfort, and I 
now beseech you not to withhold them, if the time 
shall ever come, in which the unavoidable weight and 
infirmities of age shall press upon me. It must be one 



15 

of the greatest evils that can overtake a professional 
man, if, as soon as his usefuhiess is impaired or gone, 
all his early labors must so go into oblivion, as to 
bring him neither respect, support, or comfort in that 
evil day ; but he must still live forsaken here and for- 
gotten there. The end of my ministry, and the de- 
sire of my heart is, so to promote the true gospel in 
and among you, as to be able to present you, at last, 
as a chaste virgin, to Christ. For what is my hope, or 
joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the 
presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, at his coming ? 

Our subject leads us to take into view the interests 
of the church, and of the world, which are connected 
with our own, and in which our present and future 
happiness are involved. 

In opening our discourse, we went back to the dark 
ao^s of the world, in which both science and religion 
were in their infancy, and had attained to no great de- 
gree of splendor. We briefly traced the history of 
them through past ages, down to the present. These 
are but so many events filling up that great map of 
Providence, sketched out by him who seeth the end 
from the beginning. 

In the course we pursued, we see that population 
and empire have long since been travelling from east 
to west, and that the knowledge of Christianity has ad- 
vanced in the same coui^se, with equal pace. For as the 
lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto 
the west, so also has been the coming of the Son of 
man in his kingdom. 

In the last century, some of the greatest events have 
taken place that ever distressed and astonished the 
world. The cup of Providence, which contained 



16 

these ingredients, was full of mixture : and while it 
poured mercy upon some nations, it poured wrath up- 
on others. Within this period, our own revolution 
has taken place, which gave birth to a nation. We 
have since been afflicted by war, and are again visited 
with peace. But what are these events when com- 
pared to the mighty changes in Europe ? 

In the commencement of the revolution, their anti- 
christ and the man of sin was put down, the inquisition 
destroyed, and religious tyranny and persecution ap- 
peared to be fast coming to an end. Of late the Papal 
power has been restored again, and strengthened under 
the former dynasty. We seem evidently to be living 
under the seventh and last vial,* spoken of in the Rev- 
elations, which was poured out into the air ; and there 
came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from 
the throne, saying, it is done. And there were voices, 
and thunders, and lightnings ; and there was a great 
earthquake, such as was not, since men were upon the 
earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And 
the great city was divided into three parts, or factions, 
and the cities of the nations fell. 

This description seems to apply to the present con- 
dition of the kingdoms and powers of Europe. What 
the present perplexity and distress of nations predict^ 
and what events will immediately follow them, is un- 
certain. Their accomplishment may be reserved for 
another century. We are happily removed at a dis- 
tance from that scene of devastation, oppression, and 
wretchedness, and may God preserve our affairs, both 
of church and state, from being either disturbed or 
effected by it, and give us peace always, and by all 
means. 

* Revelations, xvi. 17. 



17 

We cannot expect this happiness apart from our 
own piety and prudence, vigilance and steadfastness. 
Though our Zion now enjoys a good degree of 
peace and tranquillity, her trials are not ended, nor is 
her warfare yet accomplished. As soon as our na- 
tional disturbances are quieted, we are presented with 
symptoms of strife, debate, and divisions in our 
churches, hi which many ministersof cur holy religion 
are taking the lead. It has too often been tlie fault of 
christians, and of christian ministers, that they have 
disputed with the greatest warmth and bitterness, on 
subjects the least understood. — On subjects which, 
though often and long debated, never have been, and 
probably never will be fully settled in this world : and 
if ever they be clearly understood by us, it must be 
when we shall have arrived to the world of light above, 
where our knowledge will be perfected. 

Among these subjects we may mention the doctrine 
of the Trinity. 

It is unfortunate that this doctrine, which was so 
long debated in the third and fourth centuries, which 
caused so many councils of bishops, and was followed 
with so many anathemas, persecutions and banish- 
ments, should be revived again in this nineteenth cen- 
tury. If it be introduced as a dividing line between 
those who assume to themselves the name of orthodox, 
and who, of consequence, will view as heretics, all 
who may honestly differ from them, and should after- 
wards become a term of communion among ministers 
and churches, the consequences will be serious and 
hurtful. 

On this subject, the inspired apostles only required 
of their hearers to believe that Jesus Christ was the 
Son of God : and his uninspired and fallible ministers 

4 



18 

should demand no more of christian professors now,- 
in order to their admission to gospel privileges, than a 
faith in the doctrine of the Son of God, as revealed in 
the holy scriptures, and not in the words of man's 
wisdom. To a private opinion of the true sense and 
meaning of the words of scripture, on this sublime and 
important subject, all christians have a fair and equal 
claim, and they ought alike to be tolerated in it. 

The word Trinity is no where used in the holy 
scriptures, but is of man's invention. The patri- 
archs, prophets, and saints of old, who believed in a 
Messiah to come, could know nothing of this doctrine 
before God was manifested in the flesh. Yet, all these 
died in faith, and in the comfort of hope, not having 
received the promises. And the gospel, which re- 
veals to us the Father, the Son, and the Holf Ghost, 
no where suspends our final salvation, on the condition 
of our believing the existence of these in a particular 
mode of interpretation only, and otherwise than the 
scriptures themselves have manifested the doctrine to 
us. And no circumstantial and honest difference of 
opinion among christians, which does not bar their 
entrance into heaven, ought ever to interrupt their 
communion on earth. Ought we, and must we then 
be summoned to submit to the speculations and dog- 
mas of assuming men, under the pain and penalty of 
being denounced as heretics, if we hesitate and re- 
fuse ? Shall christian intercourse be suspended on 
such a condition ? Must the peace, harmony, and 
fellowship between pastors and christian churches be 
hereby suspended and broken up ? Must honest and 
pious christians, who would otherwise have remained 
happy in the bosom of their own church, and in com- 
munioi;! with it, be made either to withdraw themselves 



19 

or be driven from it, by urging on them a doctrine, 
contained in a commentary darker than the text, in an 
explanation that needs to be further explained ; a doc- 
trine which, after all that has been written and said upon 
it, remains above their comprehension ; and which, if 
received in the words of men rather than in the words 
of scripture could never make them the wiser or better 
practical christians. I mention these things because the 
times and seasons seem to call for them. 

Amidst all the trials and afflictions of life, and the 
causes which continually agitate the world, it is happy 
for meek, patient, and hopeful christians, that the 
church is built on the rock of ages. That Christ is 
laid in Zion, for a foundation stone, elect and precious, 
and that so long as the foundation remains fixed, the 
building must stand, and the powers of neither earth 
or hell can overturn it ; that whosoever falleth on this 
stone, shall himself be broken ; but on whomsoever it 
shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 

The christian cause has passed through and surviv- 
ed many fiery persecutions, in which the blood of the 
martyrs was the seed of the church, and brought new 
accessions to it. It will outlive all the storms that in 
future shall beat upon it, and continue to flourish still 
in new strength and beauty. The past and present 
numbers of the church are a pledge of a much larger 
increase in times to come. 

To this end Christ, the true Messias, was cut off 
from the earth, and who shall declare his generation, or 
be able to eountthe number of his spiritual seed which 
shall be born to him ? The work is with the Lord, 
and he will prosper it. Zion will still be enlarged in 
her borders and strengthened in her gates, and shall 
become more universal and conspicuous in the last 



20 

days, when the mountahi of the Lord's house shall be 
estabhshed in the top of the mountauis, and shall be 
exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto 
it. And many people shall go and say, come ye, and 
let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house 
of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us his ways, 
and we will walk in his paths. Jesus Christ is the 
same yesterday, to day, and for ever. His kingdom is 
an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endureth 
through all generations. It began at the creation of 
the world ; it will close at the dissolution of it. Then 
t:ometh the end, when he shall have delivered his king;- 
dom to God, even the Father, that God may be all in 
all. 

Thus far have I pursued my subject, and I cannot 
dismiss it, till I have ministered to you, my hearers, 
one of the strongest consolations of our holy religion. 

We see and we feel that the fashion of this world 
passeth away, and that we ourselves pass away there- 
with. But the hour cometh when we and our dear 
children and friends who are gone from us, together 
with all who have pertained to the family of man 
through the successive generations of the earth, shall 
be gathered into one great assembly ; for the dead are 
not finally perished. They rest in their graves, wait- 
ing for the redemption of the body. And we are as- 
sured that all who have, and all who shall go down into 
the pit, in different ages and periods, from the oldest to 
the latest sleeper in death, shall be quickened together 
l)y one voice, and at one time. Then this corruptible 
shall put on incorruption. The empire of death will 
be destroyed, and the ruins of it repaired, when, with 
all the ransomed of the Lord, we shall come to mount 
Zion, which is above, and shall be admitted to the 



21 

fruits of the tree of life, in the new and heavenly Jeru- 
salem, where we shall see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob ; 
the prophets, the apostles, and the martyrs, and all the 
followers of the Lamb, whom he hath redeemed to 
God, by his blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, 
and people, and nation. 

And let all the people say, Amen. 



POSTSCRIPT. 

The 'careless inattention of many of our ancestors, 
and in particular, of town officers, to the duty of regis- 
tring interesting events, and of recording and transmit- 
ting to posterity the doings of corporations, from time 
to time, renders it difficult to give a full and correct 
history of particular towns ; therefore, in the history I 
shall here attempt to give of the town of Littleton, there 
will probably be several omissions, and possibly some 
errors, which the candid reader is desired to excuse, 
and to correct, if it be in his power. The following 
brief history is from all such means and information, 
as from various sources I have been able to collect. 

Formerly this town was mostly a gore of land, not 
included within the limits of any of the extensive and 
previously incorporated towns around us. In this 
situation it remained for many years after Concord, 
Chelmsford, Groton, Stow, and Lancaster were incor- 
porated. It was then but thinly inhabited by some 
English people, together with Indians living on their 
ancient settlements, and was known by the name of 
Nashoba. 



22 

Mr. Gookiii. in his history of Indian tribes, gives 
the following account of this place : 

*' Nashoba is the sixth praying Indian town. This 
villae:e is situated in a manner in the centre, between 
Chelmsford, Lancaster, Groton, and Concord, about 
25 miles west-north-west from Boston. The inha> 
bitants are about ten families, and consequent!} about 
fifty souls. This village is four miles square. The 
people live here as in Indian villages, upon planting 
corn, fishing, hunting, and sometimes labouring with 
the English people. Their ruler of late years was 
John Ahatawana, a pious man. After his decease, 
Pennekennet, or Pennekannet became their chief. 
Their teacher's name was John Thomas, a sober and 
pious man. The father of this John (Thomas) was 
murdered by the Maquas Indians, in a secret manner, 
as he was fishing for eels at his wear. He was a pious 
and useful man, and this place was considered as hav- 
ing sustained a great loss in him. In this place are 
orchards of apples. Near unto this town is a pond, 
wherein, at some seasons, there is a strange rum- 
bling noise, as the Indians affirm ; the reason thereof 
is not yet known. Some have considered the hills ad- 
jacent are hollow, wherein the wind being pent, is the 
cause of this rumbling, as in earthquakes. At this 
place they attend civil and religious order as in other 
pra} ing towns ; and they have a constable, and other 
officers. This town was deserted during the Maquas 
war, in 1676; but is now again peopled, and in a 
hopeful way to prosper."* 

The pond above mentioned must be Nagog, proba- 
bly so called by the Indians, who gave names to most of 
the remarkable lakes, rivers and ponds on this continent. 

* Vide Gookin's Historical Collections, chap. 7. p. 188. 



23 



It lies on the eastern extremity of this town. Most of 
its waters are within the bounds of Littleton, ^and the 
residue of them in Acton. 

The report of a strange noise, heard occasionally m 
this pond, was not without foundation. But the noise 
was not in the water, as they imagined, but from a 
hill lyin.o-in a north-west direction, and about half a 
mile distant from the pond, partly in Litdeton and 
pardy in Westford, known by the name of Nashoba 
Hill. A rumbling noise from time to tmie has been 
heard from this hill, ever since the settlement of the 
town. It has been repeated within two years past, 
and is called die shooting of Nashoba Hill. Whether 
it be occasioned by the ground being hollow, as Mr. 
Gookin suggests, or by mineral and other substances 
loda-ed in its bowels, is uncertain. 

This easterly part of the town still called Nashoba 
bv many, formerly went by the name of Concord Vil- 
la-e which extended on westerly as the road now lies, 
almost to the common on which the first meeting-house 
stood. Whether it was so named, because a portioa 
of the land belonged to Concord before this town was 
incorporated, or from some other circumstance, is un- 
known. At the south-easterly part of the town, and on 
the northerly side of a pond lying there, the Indians- 
erected and maintained a fort, which gave to the waters 
.adjoining the name of Fort Pond. The fort was buiR 
on an ekvated spot of ground, occupied and improved 
bv die Indians, according to their manner of cultivation 
The principal owner, or oldest possessor of this plot ot 
ground was an Indian by the name of Spean ; and the 
Ld is known to this day by the name of Spean s field. 
The oldest apple-tree in the memory of the inhabi- 
tants of Littleton, and probably the first grown m .he 



^4 

town, was found standing on this field. Though it 
bore the marks of age and of some partial decay, yet it 
remaine'd alive, and continued to bear fruit, till the 
twenty-third day of September, 1815, when it was 
blown down by the violent gale on that memorable day. 
The number and names of the first English inhabitants, 
in this place, and the precise time of their settling in it, 
are not distinctly known. There Vv'cre probably some 
English settlers in this town, as early as 1642, when 
the people in Connecticut and Massachusetts were 
alarmed by a report, that under the influence and daring 
spirit of Miantonimo, sachem of the Narragansetts, a 
general conspiracy was forming among all the Indians, 
who were to rise at a time appointed, and cut off all the 
English in the country. So strong was the suspicion 
of this intended evilj that the Court of Massachusetts 
ordered, that all the Indians within their jurisdiction 
should be disarmed, which they submitted to. 

That we have not fixed on too early a period for the 
first settling of some English people in this place, will 
appear probable, when we consider, that the town of 
Concord was incorporated the second day of September, 
1635; and it is not improbable, that within seven 
years from that time, some English people might fix 
their residence among the Indians in that part of Little- 
ton, called Nashoba, which is not more than eight miles 
from the centre of the town of Concord. 

The oldest dwelling-house in this town, was erected 
as a garrison-house for the defence of the English set- 
tlers against their Indian enemies. This ancient and 
much decayed building, is situated on the south-easter- 
ly side of Nashoba Hill. It is in possession of the fam- 
ily of Mr. Samuel Reed, deceased, is now inhabited by 
his widow, and is said to have been standing more than 



25 

i70 years. History informs us, that in the Maqiias war, 
two men were killed at a farm about Concord, Isaac and 
Jacob.Sheplierd by name, about the middle of February, 
1676 ; and a young maid, about 15 years of age, who 
had been set to watch the enemy, was carried captive, 
•who strangely escaped away upon a horse the Indians 
had taken from Lancaster, a little before.* The 
place from which these captives were taken, was 
doubtless in that part of Littleton which is now called 
Nashoba, then Concord Village, which was adjoining to 
the bounds of Concord, before Acton was taken from 
it. The hill on which the young maid was placed to 
Avatch the enemy, lies about a third of a mile south of 
Nashoba Hill, on the road leading to Boston, and was 
called Quagana Hill. Tradition says, that this girl was 
carried by the savages to Nashawa, now called Lancas- 
ter, or to some place in the neighbourhood of it. That 
in the dead of night she took a saddle from under the 
head of her Indian keeper, when sunk in sleep 
increased by the fumes of ardent spirit — put the saddle 
on a horse — mounted on him — swam him across Na- 
shawa river — and so escaped the hands of her captors, 
and arrived safe to her relatives and friends. 

On the third of December, 1715, on a petition pre- 
sented to the Legislature, by one Whitcomb and Pow- 
ers, the inhabitants of this place were incorporated into 
a town, by the name of Littleton. It was so called af- 
ter the name of the hon. George Lyttleton, Esq. Mem- 
ber of the British Parliament, and one of the Commis- 
sioners of the Treasury. In return for the honour done 
to his name, the noble gentleman presented this town 
with a Church Bell. But on account of an error in 
spelling the name, caused by substituting the i for the 

* See Hubbard's History of Indian Wars, p. 153. 
5 



26 

z/, which formed the word Littleton, the valuable pres- 
ent miscarried, and was finally withheld, under the pre- 
tence that no such town as Lyttleton, to which the 
bell was to be presented, could any where be found. 
It is stated, that the person entrusted with this present 
made sale of it, and that the same bell is now in the 
possession and use of the town, in this commonwealth, 
which purchased it. 

The first meeting house in the town was placed on 
a level and commodious spot of land, which has ever 
•since lain common, on the north-easterly part of the 
town, and within half a mile of the southern boundary 
of the town of Westford. This place was probably 
agreed upon, partly from the eligible situation it afibrd- 
ed for public buildings, and from the south-easterly 
part of the town being first settled, and containing 
such a number of inhabitants, as when joined with oth- 
ers, then particularly accommodated, could decide 
any vote in the corporation. We have no record of 
the time in which the first meeting-house was erected. 
From the then infancy of the town, and other circum- 
stances, it is probable that a considerable time elapsed 
between the raising and completing that public 
building. 

At a public meeting, August 20, 1723, the town 
voted to accept the meeting-house, on condition that 
the undertakers should add some further finishings to 
it. It was improved as a house of public worship 
about 17 years from the time it was accepted. 

The second meeting-house stood nearly on the 
same ground as does the present. It was built in 
1740, and stood about 52 years. 

The diird and last meeting-house was built in 1793, 
and, on account of its neatness, accommodations, and 



27 

public appearance, we may truly say, the glory of this 
latter house far exceeds the glory of both the former. 

We are unfortunately left without any history of the 
first gathering and planting of a church in this place. 
The first pastor either kept no record of the church 
under his care, or he neglected to leave it either with 
his successor, the church, or any of his surviving fami- 
ly. But we may fairly presume, without danger of 
erring materially, that a regular church existed in this 
place as early as the stated ministry of the gospel ; for 
as soon as the people had provided for the regular ad^ 
ministration of the word and ordinances by an ordained 
pastor, there must have been a christian church among 
them. 

The first gospel minister in this town was the Rev. 
Benjamin Shattuck, who w^as ordained December 25, 
1717. Having continued in the ministry nearly 13 
years, he was, by an agreement with the people of his 
charge, dismissed from his pastoral ofiice in June, 1730, 

His successor. Rev. Daniel Rogers, was ordained 
March 15, 173 1— -2. He died November, 1782, in 
the 76th year of his age, and 51st of his ministry. 

Rev. Edmund Foster was ordained Jan. 17, 1781. 

In this church there have been eighteen deacons, 
who, as far as known, were elected to office, and offi- 
ciated in the following order : 

NAMES. TIME WHEN ELECTED. 

Dr. David Russell,^ 

Caleb Taylor, > Unknown. 

John Wood, ) 

Benjamin Hoar, — September 25th, 1741. 

Jonathan Lawrence,) . , c,„,, ,__„ 

r, 1 rr I ? August 26th, 1763. 

bamuel laylor, y ° ' 



Abraham Patch, > ^^ , , , , ,-e^ 
T? u r» 1 f October 1st, 1756. 

Lnoch Dole, 3 

Oliver Hoar, ^ tt u 

Josiah Hartwell, 5 



S8 

Jonathan Patch, > ,. .^, ,^ 

Elias Taylor, ^ May 4th, 1786. 

John Wood, ) ,r 

Daniel Kimball, I ^ay 24, 1793. 

John Hartwcll, ? ta , , 

Samuel Hoar, ^ December 20th, 1796. 

David Lav?rence, 7 c ^ ■, 

John Hartwell, 3d. 5 September 2d, 1813. 

Dr. John Wood,^ 

Samuel Hoar, f „ 4 ^r • j- n 

David Lawrence,( ^^^"^''^ offiaaiing Deacons. 
John Hartwell, ^ 

We shall conclude our history of the town of Little- 
ton, by observing, that it lies about 28 miles, in a west- 
north, west direction from Boston. In the northerly 
part of the town, about a mile from its centre, a Post- 
Office is kept, by which passes the road from Boston 
to Keene, N. H. The town contains 130 dwelling- 
houses, about 150 families, and upwards of nine hun- 
dred inhabitants. 



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